Sir, I read Dr P D Copson's letter (BDJ2004, 196: 248) describing the use of a rubber swimming hat to prevent the transmission of head lice from patient to operator, with great interest. He does not, however, specify as to whether the hat should be worn by the patient or the operator.
As an orthodontist, my 'hairy' problem is that of excessive hair gel applied by my adolescent male patients. They enter the surgery with gel-assisted spiky hair (looks rather like the meringue on a baked Alaska – a modern trend in these parts), and leave with a flattened style (reminiscent of Frankenstein's Monster).
The result of this? The shirt of the operator covered in the slimy concoction. This is not only uncomfortable, but is likely to create some embarrassment when the next patient walks in.
The obvious remedy to this is to apply a bath cap to the patient's head preoperatively (readily available from most high street chemists and good conference hotels). For repeat offenders the threat of using a pink one seems to be an effective deterrent.
